Devlin
"It's me. It's Steven." The boy said to Melissa. "Your brother." She looked at him confused, trying to break past the barrier in her mind keeping her memories from her. The sound of giggling filled the air as the room was spinning. A voice she knew as Steven suddenly spoke: "Okay, I think that's enough, Mel, before you make us both sick." She realized her arms were around his neck as she was against his back, she was quite small, she must have been around the age of 10. He had been twirling them around. She giggled sliding off her brother's back. "Awe, Stevie you poor-sport!" She pouted. He laughed ruffling her hair. " Love you too, kiddo." She looked at him as the flashback ended, tears flooding her eyes. She ran over to him hugging him tightly, whispering. "Stevie." Steven embraced her in his arms, overcome with emotion. Holding back the tears, he questioned, "What happened to you?" "What happened to me?" Melissa repeated the question as tears ran down her face. "I- my friends. They're dead and it's all my fault. If I would have just stayed with them..." She gripped onto Steven, sobbing, to where the words she spoke could barely be made out. Steven hugged Melissa tightly. "Don't worry, you're safe with me. What happened to your friends?" "W-we were in an accident... Then this beast this ugly thing just came from no where Savannah just ran.. it all happened so fast... I left... I left them behind when I should've stayed and helped but when I was gonna come back I heard one yell I knew that killed them... so I continued to run away til I came to this please." She said through her quivering voice as tears rolled down her cheeks soaking Steven's shirt as she held tightly onto her brother for comfort. Steven held Melissa tightly. "There's a chance your friends are still alive. I can help you find them." She looked at him surprised. "T-there is?" She questioned in her quivering voice. Steven gave her a comforting smile. "Yeah, there is.. I promise everything's going to be alright." He gave her a gentle hug then stepped back. She nodded wiping away the tears and paused to gather herself. "We have to go look for them then." Steven had started to show his sister around the lab. "Wow, this place is huge." She said in amazement. "What all do you do here?" He smiled at his sister's curiosity. "Well, we do a lot of things here. We research weapons, the nature of demons, their power, medicine -- all to aid in the war, I suppose. There was once a time when our lab was not for such purposes, but I guess times change." Melissa looked at him confused, "War? What war?" As she waited for her brother's reply, she begins to look at the beautiful paintings that lined the wall of the lab and she noticed a group of what appeared to be students on the opposite side of the room. Steven let out a confused "Er...", baffled at his sister's bewilderment to the war. The war dictated nearly all aspects of your life, and the war's progress was always the most important happenings of the day. "The war right now, the war against demons and such, of course." He began making up thoughts and wild speculations in his mind. "Perhaps she has some sort of memory problem? I..." He went over the details in his head. For a moment, perhaps briefly, he considered checking up on her in his lab. But for now, he could only wait for her response. "Ha!" Melissa let out an innocent giggle at Steven's statement. "Don't be smart now, Steven. What do you use the stuff in the lab for, really?" It was at this moment that he confirmed his suspicions about Melissa. Melissa not remembering her brother at first glance was nothing of significance, but her not knowing about the war meant she definitely had some sort of problem. "I... Melissa, how do I say this?" he began. "Do you have some sort of... Well that's, no, no. Melissa, I, uh, honestly think you should come with me so I may perform a brief examination on you." Melissa looked at Steven in confusion. "Examination? But why? I feel fine." Steven sighed softly. He stroked his chin softly, giving off a few verbal pauses, before finally stopping and giving her an answer. "Well, perhaps I can start it like this. Melissa, besides your memories of us, what is the earliest thing you remember? Come now, what were you doing say, three months ago?" Melissa paused and tried to recall her earliest memory, "I-i don't really remember anything.. Before I woke up in the barn surrounded by the other people.." She replied to him, her soft features suddenly overcome by the sadness of her lack of past memories. Unknown to them, a pair of sapphire blue eyes was watching them closely from across the room. "Now, now. Well then -- I am pretty sure that confirms it. Don't be sad now, come with me to the lab. I'll see what happened to you, everything will be fine, I promise." Steven motioned over to Melissa, pointing to the direction of a room she had to go to for examination. Despite being nervous, Melissa walked into the examination room and waited for her brother. "Do you remember coming into contact with anything before you found yourself in the barn? If you do, it may help me to determine what I need to do to help you get your memory back." Steven asked, closing the door as he entered the room. "No, I don't.. I don't remember anything before I woke up." "That's a darn shame," Steven answered. "Mind if I were to test some sort of experiment on you to see whether I can recover any more of your memories?" "Experiments...? Sure, I guess, if it means I get my memories back." Melissa replied, she was clearly nervous with her response. Steven nodded as he began to think of what sort of tests he would run on his younger sister. There was a sudden knock on the door. "What is it?" He called out. Then a gentle feminine voice answered, "Sir, something's happening in the city you should know about. Can you please come quick?" Steven went to the door and opened it, gesturing for Melissa to follow, which she did. Beth, one of the young students of the lab stood outside the door, with a look of urgency across her face. "Sir, Alchem Corporation is raiding the city." At the mention of the name "Alchem", some people momentarily stopped their laboratory work to listen in. Steven was obviously worried, but Melissa froze at the mention of the name. Quickly, she asked, "Are you sure they are here? Why would they raid the city?" Beth's eyes shot towards Melissa, quickly looking her over as she noticed the strange tone in Melissa's voice. "They have soldiers in the streets, they are after some android." She answered. At about this time, Steven noticed the worry in Melissa, in addition to her choice of words. Having known Melissa for many years, Steven could see something was bothering her. They way she asked "why would they", to him, implied she had past experiences with the corporation. Wanting to save his questions to Melissa for later, he responded to Beth. "How many soldiers? Dozen? Fifty? Hundred?" "Well sir, the reports say that nine men are currently in the city. For a moment, they hacked all of the radio and Internet systems." As Beth explained, Melissa wondered if the android being searched for was Chris. Perhaps, she thought, he made his way into the city. "Did they happen to say the android's name?" she asked, trying to keep calm. "Chris Wellington." Melissa instantly looked more alert and partly relieved. "I-I'll have to look for him myself." Her voice partly shaken from fear of possibly confronting Alchem. "Melissa!" Steven definitely knew something was wrong. Steven went in front of Melissa and quickly put his hands on her shoulders. "I don't know exactly what's going on, but something's up. Your tone, your face — listen, I'm pretty sure you know Chris, but you can't go; I'm telling you, you can't!" he exclaimed. Melissa pushed her brother's hands off of her shoulders, making him step back. "I didn't ask you! Yes, I know Chris, he's one of my friends from the barn and you can't stop me from going out there!" "You're being an idiot!" Steven screamed. Stepping forwards, he once again grabbed Melissa with a tight grip. Others looked in shock at the confrontation. "Enough! Listen, yes, you care about your friends, but this is a life and death situation! You'd be dumb to even think going out there is smart. I've known you your whole life, and I will not stand as — " The man lessened his grip slightly, his voice beginning to shake. His eyes watered slightly. "I will not stand as you go out there and kill yourself. You've already come here all messed and beaten up, and this will not happen again". Melissa stared directly at her brother as he began to fall apart. What once began as a great scolding and an affirmation of Steven's role as her protector, now became a pitiful display of tears and regret. She could see that he cared about her, but she also knew she had her own goals and objectives. Her friends were in danger, and of course, and to her, it was her duty to save them. She pulled away from Steven once more, but with no great speech to shout. Steven could only provide a muffled and weak "Sorry". She shook her head, and slowly walked to the door. "I'll....." Melissa spoke nervously in the tension-filled room. She crafted her words carefully, attempting to remain calm in the face of her future endeavor. "I'm going now. I'll see you all in a bit." She ran out the door, leaving her sibling behind. As she ran through the streets aimlessly, she did not know what to feel. She had an air of confidence and determination as she planned to find her friends. In this, was mixed with sprinkles of nervousness; as she wondered how she would confront Alchemilia Corporation. Surrounding these, was a pinch of sadness for her brother. Her head held high, she went in, her boat against the current.